The 23rd SS-Standarte was a regimental formation of the

Allgemeine-SS The ''Allgemeine SS'' (; "General SS") was a major branch of the ''Schutzstaffel'' (SS) paramilitary forces of Nazi Germany; it was managed by the SS Main Office (''SS-Hauptamt''). The ''Allgemeine SS'' was officially established in the autum ...

located in the region of

Silesia Silesia (see names #Etymology, below) is a historical region of Central Europe that lies mostly within Poland, with small parts in the Czech Silesia, Czech Republic and Germany. Its area is approximately , and the population is estimated at 8, ...

. Due to its geographical location, the 23rd SS-Standarte is best known for existing as a General-SS counterpart command for

Waffen-SS The (; ) was the military branch, combat branch of the Nazi Party's paramilitary ''Schutzstaffel'' (SS) organisation. Its formations included men from Nazi Germany, along with Waffen-SS foreign volunteers and conscripts, volunteers and conscr ...

and SS-Totenkopfverbande personnel assigned to

Auschwitz concentration camp Auschwitz, or Oświęcim, was a complex of over 40 Nazi concentration camps, concentration and extermination camps operated by Nazi Germany in Polish areas annexed by Nazi Germany, occupied Poland (in a portion annexed into Germany in 1939) d ...

Operations

The

Standarte In Nazi Germany, the ''Standarte'' (pl. ''Standarten'') was a paramilitary unit of Nazi Party (NSDAP), ''Sturmabteilung'' (SA), NSKK, NSFK, and ''Schutzstaffel'' (SS). Translated literally as "Regimental standard", the name refers to the flag pa ...

first encompassed administrative control of Auschwitz personnel in 1943, after a territorial command change occurred from the authority of the

General Government The General Government (, ; ; ), formally the General Governorate for the Occupied Polish Region (), was a German zone of occupation established after the invasion of Poland by Nazi Germany, Slovak Republic (1939–1945), Slovakia and the Soviet ...

to that of the

Gauleiter A ''Gauleiter'' () was a regional leader of the Nazi Party (NSDAP) who served as the head of a ''Administrative divisions of Nazi Germany, Gau'' or ''Reichsgau''. ''Gauleiter'' was the third-highest Ranks and insignia of the Nazi Party, rank in ...

of Upper Silesia. Due to the practice of SS members holding in fact two separate

SS ranks The uniforms and insignia of the ''Schutzstaffel'' (SS) served to distinguish its Nazi paramilitary ranks between 1925 and 1945 from the ranks of the ''Wehrmacht'' (the German armed forces from 1935), the German state, and the Nazi Party. Unifor ...

(one in the General-SS and the other in the Waffen-SS), the 23rd Standarte served as a "paperwork command" for personnel considered "cross assigned" between the General and Waffen-SS. This assignment was purely administrative, and many of the Standarten's "members" never formally mustered as a unit or attended ''Allgemeine-SS'' meetings. The 23rd Standarte effectively ceased to exist due to the advance of the

Red Army The Workers' and Peasants' Red Army, often shortened to the Red Army, was the army and air force of the Russian Soviet Republic and, from 1922, the Soviet Union. The army was established in January 1918 by a decree of the Council of People ...

through Poland in 1944. The command was formally disbanded in May 1945.

Sources

* Yerger, Mark C. ''Allgemeine-SS: The Commands, Units, and Leaders of the General SS''. Atglen, Pennsylvania: Schiffer Publishing (1997). Nazi SS {{nazi-stub

Operations

See also

Sources